


A Field Of Endless Suns

by Inumaru12



Category: Mother 3, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Brothers Realationship, Character Death, Child Death, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Happy, Happy and Sad endings, Illness, Multiple Endings, Sad, implied suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 18:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2783669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inumaru12/pseuds/Inumaru12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas was in so much pain as he waited for Ness to get back from his match. The pain messed with his head, and made him dream weird things. Like waking up in a flower field with his dead brother Claus.</p><p>Two Parts.  Sad Ending in first chapter, happy ending in second.  PLEASE READ THE FIRST CHAPTER FIRST!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sad Ending

** A Field of Endless Suns **

****

It had started the night before.  Lucas had started to feel a bit sluggish and really tired.  He also felt a pain bad pain that he could never really pinpoint.  His roommate, Ness, suggested that he was tired from the entire day of smashing and that he should go to bed.  Lucas nodded and was so tired that he barely heard Ness tell him that the other boy would be in an endurance smash the next day so he might not be there when he woke up.

Lucas feel into a deep and troubling sleep filled with monsters and an endless darkness that called out his name.  When he woke up again, it was morning and everything was wrong.  His throat was dry and he felt so hot and was drenched with sweat.  The worse part though was the pain.  His side was throbbing with pain.  It felt as if someone had taken a red hot knife and was jabbing him from the inside out.

He put his hand on the pain and hissed; the shock of pain that went through him was making his body shake.

The boy couldn’t move.  The pain was too much for him and if he even tried he could barely move without going back to the pain.  Eventually it was too much for Lucas, and he passed out back into his dreams.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

**  
**Lucas opened his eyes and blinked.  Then he blinked again and then proceeded to rub his eyes. Right in front of him was a field of sunflowers.

‘Is this real?’ He wondered, moving forward to gently touch the stalk of the flower.  He gave a small gasp.  He could feel it, he could really feel it.  Pulling it closer so that the actual flower was near his face he took a deep whiff of its scent.

It had to be real.  He could smell the flower and even feel it.  So why was he here, and even where was here?

  
“Lucas!”

  
Lucas turned out of reflex and froze when he saw who standing a few feet away from him and waving.  


“Claus!”  


Without a second thought, Lucas ran towards his brother and embraced him.

 

** XxXxXxXxX **

****

Ness sighed and pushed himself to continue down the hallway. 

  
‘It’s only a few more steps.’ He thought to himself, than he’d be able to take a shower and rest.

The young PSI user had been in a long endurance test against Pit, Ike, and Yoshi; the one who could stay standing without fainting or giving up was the winner.  It had been close but Pit had won in the end.  Ness had worn himself not just physically but mentally too.  Using so much PSI in a short amount of time was strenuous but overall Ness was proud of how long he had managed to last in the battle.

Finally at his door, the dark haired boy slid his key card and opened the door.  Walking in, he blinked in surprise.  Lucas was still in bed?  He looked towards the digital that was on the bedside table and frowned.  It was already one o’clock in the afternoon so why wasn’t he up?  Did he not feel well? 

Ness suddenly remembered how Lucas didn’t seem to feel too good last night, making him worried even more.  Walking over to the boy who was hidden by his covers, he pulled them back.  Lucas was breathing heavily, giving out painful gasps every few seconds.  When Ness put his hand on Lucas’ forehead he almost immediately pulled it back.  Lucas wasn’t just warm, he was burning up.  The raven haired boy’s concern increased and he flailed around for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.  Finally after a moment, he pulled himself together and rushed out the door. 

He had to get Doctor Mario.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

**  
**Claus held him as he cried on his shoulder.  Lucas was gripping him so tightly, afraid that if he let go that Claus would disappear and that he would wake up and find it had all been just a dream.  But soon the sobs began to lessen and so did Lucas’ hold on his brother.  Still clinging to his brother, Lucas looked his brother in the eyes and placed his hand against Claus’ cheek.

  
“You’re here…You’re really here.”  Lucas’ voice was thick with emotion, and he blinked away tears.

  
The darker haired twin smiled serenely.  Taking Lucas’ hands with his own, he began to speak.

  
“Yeah Lucas, I’m really here…And so are you!  We’ve missed you.”

“We?”

“Yeah, me and mom of course!  C’mon, we can’t keep her waiting.”

 

And with Lucas’ hand in his, Claus led the way.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

**  
**Doctor Mario panted slightly from being dragged halfway across the mansion by Ness.  The boy had burst into his office and said a jumble of words before grabbing him and pulling him away.  For such a young boy, he sure was strong.

Now in Ness’ room, Doctor Mario could understand the boy’s hurry.  Lucas was on his bed in what seemed sweat soaked clothes and his face expressed pure agony.  Along with the small whimpers and flushed face, it was obvious to Doctor Mario’s trained eye that Lucas was in serious condition.

Immediately running past Ness (who was bent over and panting from running from his room and back) Doctor Mario got to work.  Thanking whatever deity was watching over him that he had thought to grab his health kit before getting dragged away, the doctor took out the thermometer from his bag and moving the boy’s mouth with his other hand, put it under the boy’s tongue.

After waiting a few moments, the thermometer beeped and the doctor pulled it out and frowned.  Lucas’ temperature was very, very high and it was slowly rising higher.  The doctor decided that it would be for the best if he moved his patient to bathroom where he could put him in some cold water when noticed something.  When he began to move Lucas, the boy began to groan and wince in pain.  He was clutching his side unconsciously and the doctor set him back down gently.

Doctor Mario lifted the boy’s shirt and poked and prodded a bit until he hit a spot that made the blond haired boy yelp in pain.  The doctor frowned even more; this was a lot worse than he expected.

“Ness,” He spoke sternly but calmly, “I need you to go inform Master Hand of this situation, and that I’m bringing him to the hospital.”

“Hospital?!?”  Ness exclaimed, his worry becoming even worse.  “Is it that bad?”

The doctor sighed but nodded.

“Tell him that Lucas is going to need an operation as soon as possible.”

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

 

Never letting go of his brother’s hand, Lucas let Claus lead him through the sea of sunflowers.  They were the biggest sunflowers Lucas had ever seen, and strangely enough, whenever Lucas and Claus passed one, it would turn its head as if it was watching them.  Even worse, Lucas swore he could hear voices coming from the sunflowers.

_“…His appendix…appendicitis…operation…”_

Lucas strained his ears slightly; trying to hear what exactly the strange flowers were saying.

_“…Hurry…emergency…could die…”_

But even as Lucas paused slightly to try and listen to the voices coming from them, Claus pulled him away.  Soon enough the voices were only background noise compared to his emotions.  He was going to see his mother again.  Lucas squeezed his brother’s hand and Claus smiled gently at him.  The darker haired twin looked ahead and his smile grew even more.  Stopping, Claus pointed to something beyond them.

_…Beep…beep…beep…_

Beeping sounds were coming from the flowers now, but the blond psychic paid them no mind as he squinted to see what his brother was pointing to.  He realized, with a start, just what his brother was pointing to.

  
Their mother.

 

Without a second thought, Lucas let go of his brother’s hand and ran through the field of strange sunflowers and towards his mother.

_“…Anesthesia isn’t working…his body rejecting the medicine…can’t operate on him…”_

  
Racing through the flowers, his eyes only set his quickly getting closer mother.

  
 _“…We’re losing him…try another dose…just a few more milligrams…”_

  
His mother’s kind smile as she began to hold her arms out to him.

  
 _“Don’t give up just yet kid…Please…”_

  
An ecstatic feeling of pure joy filled him as he got even closer.  Just a few more feet and…

_“Lucas…”_

“Lucas,” His mother spoke so lovingly.

…and Lucas was in her arms, holding her and being held by her.  He had forgotten just what it felt like to be hugged by his mom.  Clinging to her tightly, he vowed to himself that he’d never let himself forget again.

_Beep…Beep…BeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEPPP._

_“Time of death?”_

_“…Two thirty-eight.”_

_“…I’m so sorry…”_

The sounds from the sunflowers got softer and softer until they were completely gone.  In his mother’s embrace, Lucas was completely safe.  No more monsters, no more evil Porkey, no more fear.  


He was home.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

 

Master Hand looked into the sea of brawlers, watching their reactions.  Even the most cruel hearted smashers were open with their shock and disbelief.  How could this have happened, and especially to Lucas?

Slowly, the info sank in and soon they began to express their emotions the only way they knew.  Several of the younger brawlers began to cry, while some of the older men grit their teeth and shook with rage at the unfairness.  Others were leaning to their friends for comfort in this suddenly painful time.

The only smasher who Master Hand had a hard time reading was Snake.

The mercenary had his back against the wall and was seemingly emotionless.  He watched as others grieved as if he was only an outsider, and in a way, he was.  Always on his own, only interacting during a few chats between brawlers and the actual fights, Solid Snake was a mystery to most.

But to Master Hand, he knew Snake understood and felt the grief here too.  That’s why Master hand had chosen the man to help him with a very difficult task.

  
They need to tell Lucas’ father, Flint.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

**  
**Boney whined, nudging Flint’s hand with his nose, only to get no response.

The man was often changing from sitting down on the couch to pacing in the house.  Flint had felt something off the entire morning.  It was just a huge bad feeling in his stomach.  No matter what he did, nothing made it go away.  He could tell it was bad, the last time he had ever felt like this was the time his wife had been killed.

Finally sitting down on the couch again, Flint intertwined his fingers and began to pray that his ( _only_ ) son was okay.  He was broken out of his prayers when suddenly there was a loud knock on his door.  It made him jump and blink for a few seconds before getting up and walking towards the door, Boney on his heels.

Opening the door, Flint was taken aback slightly by the unfamiliar man.  Standing up a little bit straighter, and a little more on edge, Flint spoke.

  
“Yes?”

  
“Hello, you must be Flint.  Your son, Lucas, speaks a lot about you.”  The man said calmly, and Flint felt a stab of fear go through him. 

This man knew his son?  Then why was he here alone?  Where was Lucas?  The bad feeling that had been wallowing in him began to twist and turn even worse.

“Now you listen here; I don’t know who you are but you obviously know about my son.  I have had a bad feeling all day long so don’t pussyfoot around the truth and tell me: is my son okay?”

There was silence between the two as they stared the other in the eyes.  A glimmer of respect shone in the strange man’s eyes along with a sad pitying look.

  
“I’m truly sorry to say, but your son is dead.”

  
Flint stared at him, uncomprehending the words he had just said.  After a while, he gripped the door frame and shook.  Lucas was…Lucas was…

He took in quick and shallow breathes, unable to keep his breathing straight.

“M-my son…he’s…” 

He looked into the other man’s eyes, praying for a denial when all he saw was truth.

Flint’s world came crashing down around him once again.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

****

Ness sat on the bench, unsure what to do.  He wanted to demand to go into the room and see Lucas’ body but at the same time he was so terrified to do so.  To see his best friend’s lifeless body just laying there; never to move again…The mere thought drove shivers up his spines and tears to his eyes.

A hand squeezed his shoulder and the young boy looked up at Luigi.  The plumber gave a strained smile that Ness was unable to return.  The man clad in green wrapped his arm around the boy but said nothing, finding nothing meaningful enough to say.  He closed his eyes, wondering what he should do when he heard the sudden tapping of shoes making their way down the hall.

Opening his eyes and looking, Luigi began to stand, along with Ness, when they saw Snake walking solemnly with a man neither of them recognized.  The man was dressed like a cowboy and his face was blank but his eyes spoke of pain and fear.  The two stopped in front of Ness and Luigi, and right in front of the door where Lucas was on the other side of.

Everyone was silent for a while, not knowing what to say.  The cowboy shuffled a bit and grabbed the rim of his hat and pulled it down over his eyes.  


“Is this the room?”  He asked gruffly.

  
At Snake’s nod, the man took a deep breath and walks towards the door and hesitated.  His hand on the door knob, he mumbled under his breath a prayer for strength.  He then enters the room and closed it behind him.  The silence began to stretch between the three smashers before it was broken.

  
“Oh _mio dio_ , was that-?” Luigi breathed, reverting into his mother tongue in shock.

  
“Yes,” Snake said, slumping onto the bench and rubbing his face with his hands.  “That was Lucas’ father.”

 

** XxXxXxXxX **

**  
**He couldn’t breathe.  He couldn’t hear.  He couldn’t move.  It was like the moment he stepped through that door everything stopped.  He slowly began to move though, but it felt as if his legs were made of lead.  He drunkenly made his way towards the bed.

It was rather nice actually; the way they had Lucas.  His body was still and there was a sheet over him, covering him from sight but Flint knew his son’s shape and with shaking hands slowly brought the sheet down.

It was almost like he was asleep.  His eyes were closed and he looked almost peaceful, but despite the serene look on his son’s face, Flint felt his heart break.  Sitting on the edge of the bed, Flint pulled his son into his arms and cradled him like he had done so long ago.

“L-Lucas.”  He mumbled, his throat becoming tight as he squeezed the lifeless husk of what was once his son.

His shoulders began to shake and he buried his head in the corpse’s neck.  Small whimpers and soft sobs were heard coming from the man as his shaking became worse.  


He never noticed when his hat fell from the shaking and drifted towards the ground.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

 

Snake and Luigi stood together, and for once they were both dressed completely in black; but then again, so were all the other smashers.  Usually the other smashers weren’t allowed to visit other worlds unless it was for a special occasion or if it was part of the area.  This time though…

  
They stood in front of three graves.  One was for Lucas’ mother, the second for Lucas’ brother and the third was for Lucas himself.  Seeing the dates on the graves and realizing what Lucas had lost in such a short amount of time was another kick in the stomach for the Smashers.  The young boy had never spoken much of his past and now they knew why.  They wished they had done something for him but now it was too late.

The funeral was bittersweet.  All of the smashers came up and spoke a little of their time with the boy.  Some stories were repeated as some of the smashers didn’t know Lucas very well but no one minded.  They dutifully ignored the tears of some smashers when they were going up to speak.

Ness was up and barely speaking for even thirty seconds before shaking he head and he refused to say anymore.  Ike pulled the boy to his side and let Ness cry into his clothes.  The respectful silence was broken only once though, when one of the natives of the planets, and Lucas’ friend, spoke up.  She yelled at Lucas’ grave, telling him she thought he was stronger than that.  She said she had expected more than some disease to kill him.  That she had expected him to grow up and get married and someday have a kid of his own.  She just kept yelling forcing herself forward, trying to punch or kick the grave but was held back by several smashers.

But in the end the pink haired girl began to cry angrily and forcefully declined any help from anyone as she furiously rubbed at her eyes.  She ran away from the funeral and towards town, a young man who seemed to have something wrong with his leg hurried after her.

Everyone was at that funeral, everyone except Flint.

  
No one said anything about it though.  While some people were angry that the father wasn’t at his own son’s funeral, no one could really blame him.  Soon enough, the service was over and everyone slowly shuffled away.  Snake and Luigi walked towards town, just killing time as both were lost in their thoughts and they were waiting for the allotted time that Master Hand said that they’d be leaving by.

As they headed farther south in the town they heard a commotion.  Luigi and Snake spared only a glance at each other before rushing forward.  They continued down the path of the town and onto a well used dirt path before coming to a house.  There was a rather large brown dog howling in what almost seemed like heartache and the pink haired girl was there.  She was slumped on the ground just staring blankly.

“What’s wrong?  What happened?”  Snake spoke softly to her, holding her shoulders as gently as possible.

She looked up at him; her eyes were filled with a grief so deep that it made him flinch in surprise.

“T-They’re all back together.” She hiccupped, letting out a small hysterical giggle after.  “They’re all one big happy family again.”

She then dissolved into tears, which Luigi jumped quickly into action to try and comfort her.  Snake was thankful, because he had never been the best at comforting.  Walking into the house he saw the man who had chased after the pink haired girl from before was in the house.  He was in front of the stairs wiping at his eyes.

“What happened?”  Snake asked, a feeling of foreboding going through him.  If he was right, then he already knew what happened.

The young man lifted his head wearily, but seemed to recognize him.  He gave a weak smile which was more of a wince.

  
“Flint, he uh-he decided that he didn’t want to be here anymore without his family.  S-so he d-decided to…”  The man stopped as he choked on a sob and he moved away from the stairway.

Snake took his time going up those stairs, knowing what would greet him when he got to the top.  He put his soldier mode on and blanked his face.  With that ready, he finally made the last step up.

He wasn’t disappointed.

  
 ** XxXxXxXxX **

 

Ness looked at Lucas’ newly erected grave and blinked back tears.  He had been crying for days now, he just wanted it to stop.  Was this how Lucas felt when his brother and his mother died?  There were so many things Ness wished he could ask Lucas but he would never have the chance to now.

“Lucas…I’m sorry.  I-I wish I had checked on you before I left that morning.  I wish I had finished earlier.  I wish…I wish you were still alive.  You were my friend, and I miss you.  It’s not the same without you there.”

Ness gritted his teeth and shook slightly before he forced himself to calm down.

“I got you something Lucas…I know it’s not much, but I remember when you told me that you loved sunflowers, and I can guess why now.”  Ness crouched down and place the sunflower before the grave marker.

“Goodbye Lucas, I’ll never forget you.”

Ness left soon after, not wanting to get left behind when Master Hand transported them all back to the mansion.  The sunflower laid motionless before Lucas’ grave.  Soon though, the tips of its petals began to blacken and the wind plucked them off, one by one. 

All that was left was the head, and the tainted yellow petals began to float away; never to be part of one ever again.

 

** Fin **


	2. Happy Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Happy Ending

Lucas thought he was in the field of sunflowers back home in Tazmily.  But that couldn’t be right though.  Just before he had been here, he had been back in the Smash Mansion in bed in the worse pain he had ever felt.  He had then fallen asleep and woken up in this field…and Claus, his twin brother, was here.

Was this a dream he wondered as Claus pulled him urgently, pushing the sunflowers out of his way.  Lucas squeezed the red haired boy’s hand and nearly cried when he felt the other squeeze back.  It was real, Claus was real.  In dreams, Lucas never felt things like his brother’s warm hand in his, or he couldn’t smell the sunflowers as he past them.  He could even hear voices, but coming from the sunflowers?  Maybe he was dreaming…

The blond haired boy slowed down, staring intently at the flowers, ignoring his brother’s incessant tugging for a moment.

  
“ _…His appendix…appendicitis…operation…_ ”  


What…was that?  Those voices were actually coming from the sunflowers.

_“…Hurry…emergency…could die…”_   


Die?  Who would die?  It didn’t make sense…unless…

Lucas wasn’t a genius, but he wasn’t stupid either.  He could put two and two together and the truth stopped him dead in his tracks.  No amount of pulling on Claus’ side could move the blond haired boy.  The red haired twin finally stopped and turned around to look at his brother. 

He wasn’t even looking at Claus; he was looking straight at the ground with his shoulders shaking slightly.

“Lucas?  What’s wrong?  Come on, I want to show you something.”  Claus said, looking at his brother in concerned curiosity.

  
“Claus,” Lucas paused and took in a deep shuttering breath before continuing.  “Claus, where are we?”

  
“Huh?  That’s why you stopped me?  I was gonna show you something really special and you stopped me to find out where we are?  LAME!”  The other boy yelled with a grin.  That grin began to fade though when he saw Lucas didn’t budge or even start to apologize like he use to when they were together as kids.

“Claus…please just answer me.”

  
Said boy furrowed his brows in annoyance.

  
“No.  Why don’t you just follow me?”

 

Neither boy said anything and as time went by, Claus got more upset.

  
“Come on Lucas, please?”  He pleaded, his voice softening.  “I just want to show you something that will make you happy.”

  
“I don’t think I should be here Claus.”  Lucas whispered, making the other confused.

  
“Why shouldn’t you be here?  I don’t understand.”  Claus admitted grudgingly.

  
Biting his lip, Lucas finally looked up from the ground and at his brother.  His bright blue eyes were filled to the brim with unshed tears.  For a moment, the pure melancholy in Lucas’ expression was enough to silence his brother.

  
“Claus, you’re dead.”

  
A beat of silence then;

  
“I know.”

  
The air was heavy around them, and tears broke from Lucas’ eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

  
“Why?”  He croaked, his voice full of emotions. “Why am I here then?  I’m not dead.”

  
“Well, no but…” Claus hesitated.  “You could stay though.”

  
Claus looked at his brother with a hopeful look and Lucas could only stare back with a mix of a slightly horrified and sad expression.

  
“You want me to die?”

  
Claus hesitated again, but then shook his head.

  
“I don’t want you to die!  But…I miss you Lucas.  I miss you so much.” 

  
The red haired boy rubbed his eyes harshly before looking at his brother again.

  
“I-If you died, that way we could be together again forever!  We could play all the time, and just be like how we used to be before…”

  
He trailed off, and Lucas didn’t need to ask him what he meant.  Closing his eyes, Lucas could see the images of the Masked Man and Porkey clear in his mind.  It made him sick.

  
“I miss you too Claus.  I miss you so much everyday it hurts.  But I can’t just die.  What about my friends?  What about dad?  If I died, I’m scared what would happen to him.”

  
Opening his eyes, Lucas could see the anger and desperation in his brother’s own eyes.

  
“S-So your friends are more important to you than your own brother?”

  
“No!  Stop twisting my words!  I love you Claus but this isn’t right.  What would mom think?”

  
“What would I think?”

  
Both boys jumped at the new voice and turned to the speaker.  Both boy’s faces showed their surprise but Claus’ had guilt and sadness while Lucas’ had astonishment and joy.

  
“M-mom!”  Lucas cried, slowly walking towards her as if wondering if she would push him away if he got too close.

  
Hinawa stood in front of her sons, looking the same as before she had died.  She smiled sweetly at her youngest son and held her arms out to him.

  
“Lucas.”

  
With that, Lucas ran into her arms and hugged her tightly.  He took in everything that he could; the way she felt, her smell, and the sound of her laughter.  Lucas was content to just stay there with his mom’s arms around him.  Maybe he could even die, knowing his mom was there to protect him.  He could be happy now, he could-

  
“Lucas, listen to me.”  Hinawa spoke with a firm voice but with a loving undercurrent. She held Lucas chin and moved it so he was looking her in the eyes. “You need to go back.”

  
“Why?” Claus asked, and Lucas wondered the same thing.

  
“It’s not your time yet Lucas.  You still have so many things you need to do before you come to the other side.  You still have your life to live.”

  
“B-but-” Claus stuttered, trying to find a reason.

  
“Claus,” Hinawa’s soothing voice called him.  “I know you miss Lucas, I miss him and your father too, but we’ll be together again someday.  But for now, you have to let him go.”

  
The boy didn’t look so sure, but finally sighed and his shoulders slumped.  He gave a weak grin to Lucas, which the other returned.  Lucas finally let go of his mother, albeit hesitantly, and looked at her, unsure what to do.

Hinawa smiled before kneeling down to look him in the face.

“Now, all you need to do is go back to where you woke up from.  From there, you should be able to wake up.”

  
“That’s it?”  Lucas’ voice was astonished.

  
Hinawa giggled.  “That’s it.”

  
“Lucas…”

  
The mother and son turned to Claus, and the boy flushed slightly, seeing his mother’s knowing look.

  
“U-um, I just wanted to say sorry for trying to make you stay…That wasn’t right of me.  I didn’t think of anyone else but myself again.”  A bitter look crossed his face that just didn’t seem right on a young boy’s face.

  
“I-it’s alright Claus.  I understand and forgive you.”  Lucas smiled at his brother’s astonished look which quickly changed to tearful.

Claus lunged and squeezed his brother tightly. 

  
“Promise me Lucas; promise me we’ll always be brothers.”

  
Lucas smiled and pushed Claus away enough so that he could hold his pinkie out.

  
“I promise.  You’ll always be my brother Claus; my very best friend.”

  
Claus took Lucas’ pinky finger with his own and the two shook on it, both grinning their hearts out.

  
“Aww, you two are so sweet.” Cooed Hinawa.  “Now Lucas, will you tell your father something for me?”

  
“Sure mom.”  Lucas said, thinking to himself how strange it felt to be saying the word he hadn’t for the past three years.

  
“Tell your father I love him and that I want him to be happy and that…”  The brown haired woman suddenly trailed off and blushed, surprising both of her sons.

“Tell him…”

Hinawa leaned in and whispered to Lucas, causing the boy to blink and then grow scarlet.

  
“Mo-om!  I can’t say that to dad!  That’s too embarrassing!” Whined the blond PSI user.

  
“Just tell him!” Hinawa scolded, blushing herself.  After a second she calmed down and smiled at her son.

“You’ve grown so much Lucas in the past three years; in both height and maturity.  I only wish I could be there to watch as you grow even more.  Just know that Claus and I love you very much and we are so very proud of you.” 

The woman wiped at her eyes, but her smile never left her lips.

  
“It’s time for you to go Lucas.”

  
“I-I understand.”  Lucas said shakily.

  
“Just follow the voices, and you’ll get home just alright.”

  
Taking one last look at his mother and brother, Lucas started to make his way back.  Just as he started to make his way, a voice called out.

  
“HEY!”

  
Turning around, Lucas saw Claus yelling to him.

  
“You better live a long time y’hear!?!  You also gotta live a full life okay?  When you come back all old and crinkly, I want you to tell me lots of stories!  OKAY?!?”

  
Lucas let out a watery chuckle, but when he saw his brother still waiting for an answer he yelled back.

  
“OKAY!”

  
Claus waved furiously and Lucas did so in return.  Soon enough though, Lucas turned around and walked the path back to where he had begun.

  
_“Heartbeat normal…everything going fine…”_

_  
_Those voices again…Who were they?

  
_“Small incision…won’t even scar…clamps please…”_

_  
_Were these the voices his mother was talking about?  He guessed that they were seeing that as he got farther down the path to where he had come from that the voices became clearer and louder.

  
_“Simple but so deadly…lucky kid…could’ve been bad…”_

_  
_Was it possible that they were doctors?  That would make sense, Lucas thought.  He continued forward.

  
_“All done.  He’ll be alright now.”_

_  
_He had reached the end of the path and was where he had started from. He felt a peace inside himself.    What the voice had said was right.  He was going to be alright.  Lucas smiled as he felt a sort of pulling sensation all around him.

  
Then Lucas woke up.

  
** XxXxXxXx **

**  
**Flint followed the other man at a brisk pace, his boots tapping loudly on hospital halls.  When the other man had come to his house and told him that his son was in the hospital, Flint was ready to run all the way there.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that his son was on a completely different world, he probably would’ve been there already.

He had felt a strange feeling that entire morning, and when he had found the man, Snake, the guy said his name was, he had thought the worse.  Appendicitis.  Lucas had appendicitis.  Flint had heard of it before when he was young but had never really paid much attention to it.  And now his son had almost died from it.

It was terrifying.

Suddenly they were in front of a door and the man Snake let him go first. With a brisk knock, Flint opened the door and looked in.

  
“Dad!”

  
Lucas was in a bed, propped up so he could sit up properly.  In the chairs that were closest to the door sat a man with a mustache dressed in green and a boy with black hair, a hat, and a striped shirt that reminded Flint of Lucas’ shirt.  All around Lucas were flowers, cards and even small gifts; all well wishes for Lucas, Flint was sure.

His son was smiling in a way Flint hadn’t seen in a long time.  His son was happy; happy to see him.  Flint wasn’t surprised to find that he felt the same way about seeing his son in good health.

  
“Lucas.”  He said simply as he made his way over to his son’s bedside.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw the green dressed man leading the other boy out and closing the door behind him and Flint was thankful.  While he had no problems with hugging his son in front of others, he was sure that once he did that all the emotions he had been keeping in would come tumbling out.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Flint leaned forward and pulled his son into a strong hug.  He felt Lucas hug him back, his much shorter arms barely making it around his body.  Flint sat on the edge of the bed, just holding his son for all it was worth.  He didn’t want to let go of him.

But in the end, he did.  Lucas began to fidget, so Flint reluctantly loosened his grip on his son and let him go.  Lucas slowly pulled away and looked up at his father.  He smiled shyly and reached over to his father’s hand and gave it a light squeeze, something Flint returned immediately.

  
“Lucas…”

  
“Dad…”

  
They both stopped as the other spoke up, almost hoping the other would start to talk first.  Seeing that Lucas was hoping that he’d go first, Flint gathered every piece of courage he had in his body and just pushed his quiet nature aside.

  
“Lucas, even before that man, Snake, came to my door, I felt as if something wasn’t right.  It was like I could feel something was wrong with you.  I may not have those special powers like you do, but I am your father and I knew something just wasn’t right.  When that man came to my door, I thought for sure he was going to tell me you were dead.  I…I don’t think I could’ve handled it if you had d-died.”  Flint had to force the last word out and squeezed his eyes shut.

  
After a moment of pulling himself together, Flint opened his eyes again and looked at Lucas. The preteen’s eyes were wide with surprise and something else that Flint couldn’t read.

  
“Dad…I-I have something to tell you.”

  
Now it was Lucas who was trying to calm himself.  As if pushing his fears away momentarily, Lucas looked up at his father with determined but worried eyes.

  
“When I fell asleep, I woke up somewhere different, and it wasn’t this hospital.” He intercepted before his dad could speak.  Flint shut his mouth and nodded Lucas on.

  
“I-it was a huge field filled with sunflowers.   I wasn’t sure where I was but it was real.  I could feel the sunflowers, smell them and when I touched them they felt real.  Then…Then I heard a voice.”

He closed his eyes momentarily and his breathing became shaking. 

  
“It was Claus.”

  
Flint felt as if he had taken a blow to the stomach.  Lucas continued on, seeing his father was struggling for words.

  
“I-I hugged him, and he hugged him back.  It was really him.  He held my hand and told me that that he had something to show me and led me down a path.  Then something even stranger happened; I heard voices coming from the flowers as they watched me.  The voices came in pieces, but the parts I did hear made me realize some things.  Before I woke up there I had been in pain, and now I was somewhere with Claus.  I-I was scared of following him.  I didn’t want to die just yet.

“We talked for a little and I told him I didn’t want to die, and he got upset and told me about how he misses me.  I miss him too but I didn’t want to leave my friends or you so I told him no and then,” Lucas gulped, looking up at his dad.  “Mom showed up.”

 

Flint’s hand was limp in Lucas’ hand and it scared him.  Unsure if it was the right thing to do, Lucas continued to speak.

  
“M-mom appeared and basically scolded Claus for trying to force me to go with him and just seeing her…I was so happy to see her, and a part of me…wanted…to stay with her.  But she told me it wasn’t my time and I understood that.  S-She told me that she was p-proud of me and loved me so much.  I-I could feel her arms around me, I c-could f-feel her warmth and s-smell her scent.  She was real.”

Lucas’ voice was so soft and choked with emotion that it affected Flint.  His own tears fell as his son’s did but he never said a word. His son needed to speak, that much was clear. 

So despite all the things that wanted to escape from his lips, Flint held onto them tightly and listened.

  
“Claus…Claus apologized and he told me that he loved me and that he misses me.  W-we made a promise that we’d always be brothers and I told him that I missed him too and no one would ever be able to replace him.  Mom told me to go on my way and as I was leaving Claus called back to me and told me that he wanted me to live a long life and when I finally did die he wanted to hear stories from my life.”

  
The blond boy finished, starting down at his sheets and watching as his tears fell and landed on it, soaking them.  He felt exhausted, both emotionally and physically.  Lucas felt if he were to go to sleep now, that he could sleep for a long, long time.

  
“Lucas,” Flint finally spoke, his voice tight with emotions he had never been sure how to express.

The cowboy pulled his son into his arms and held him in a tight embrace.  Tears rolled down his cheeks and his rugged cheek rubbed against Lucas’ head.

  
“Son, I love you.  I love you, your mother, and your brother.  You all mean the world to me, and while some of that world is gone now, you’re still here so I count my blessings while I have them.  I don’t want you to ever feel like you want to die.  I want you to live and be happy and grow up strong.  I don’t want to lose you too.”

  
Lucas wept into his father’s shirt, thoroughly soaking it, and just let his father hold him like a child.  Eventually Lucas’ sobs died down and he leaned into his father, who was now sitting with his back against the headboard, with his head against Flint’s chest.  Although Lucas was starting to drift to sleep, something was nagging him in the back of his head…something that he had forgotten.

  
“Oh!”  The blond preteen said suddenly, lifting his head and sitting up. 

  
“What’s wrong?”  Flint began to fuss over his son, worried he was in pain.  It was a very strange, but comforting, sight for Lucas.

  
“I-I just remembered something mom told me to tell you before she sent me back.”

  
Flint blinked, and looked at his son in shock and nervousness. Hinawa had sent a message back with Lucas for him?  What would she say, and was it even possible that what Lucas had described was real?  But then again, a lot of unbelievable things had happened to them before and besides, his son wasn’t one to make wild tales.

  
“Okay.”  He said finally, nodding and waiting for his son to speak.

  
“A-ah, it’s kind of embarrassing.” Lucas twisted the sheets with his hands nervously, looking at his father shyly before blushing ever so lightly. 

  
“U-uh, Mom said to tell you that she loves you and misses you and wants you to be happy and…S-she said to tell you that even though you guys have been apart for three years, you s-still look as m-manly as the day she met you.”  Lucas stuttered with embarrassment and at the end his face turned a bright cherry red.

  
There was nothing but silence for a few moments, but soon Lucas heard a strange sound and looked up to see his father’s shoulders shaking.

  
“Dad?”

  
He was truly concerned, so when his father tipped his head back and laughed, he was in a state of shock.  His father was laughing, and not just laughing, but laughing with his whole might.  Lucas had never seen his father laugh like this, not even before his mother had died.  Tears were going down his father’s face, and for once they weren’t because he was sad.

  
“Your mother,” Flint spoke once he had finally managed to calm himself down, “Is one helluva woman.”

 

His smile was wide but tinted with a sadness and fond remembrance.

  
“She told me a little before we got married about how when we started going out she couldn’t stop telling her friends how ‘manly’ I was.  It was downright embarrassing to hear her say that to me, but now it makes me happy and a little bit sad.”

  
“I…I never knew that about you guys.  C-Can you tell me more stories about you and mom before you got married?”  Lucas scooted forward towards his dad and held his dad’s hand in his own.

  
Flint gave a small smile and intertwined his fingers with his son’s.  Everything was going to be okay, he was sure of it.

  
On the table by the window, a sunflower in a vase absorbed the light coming from the sun.  It’s petals almost glowing with life as it watched the world outside.

  
Everything was going to be okay.

 

** Fin **

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked this story of mine, so I decided to cross post it here from fanfiction.net. I'll probably do that for a couple stories of mine. Hope you enjoy!


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